Sourdough Croissant

By LeadDog

Created 2010 Feb 22 - 09:51

Time for me to do something a little bit different so I decided to do Croissants. I made them twice in one week so I know they are not very hard to do just different. The second batch has chocolate and almond pieces rolled up in them. The Croissants got me the best complement that I have ever had for anything that I have baked. Someone told me that the Croissants were the best thing they had ever eaten in their life. I had to ask again to make sure I heard it right. Here is the formula.

The Dough

Ingredient:

AP Flour

Weight:

476.00

Measurement:

grams

Grams:

476

Ounces:

16.79

Cups:

3.73

Type:

flour

Ingredient:

Salt

Weight:

10.00

Measurement:

grams

Grams:

10

Ounces:

0.35

Cups:

0.04

Type:

unknown

Ingredient:

Preferment 100% Hydration

Weight:

143.00

Measurement:

grams

Grams:

143

Ounces:

5.04

Cups:

1.12

Type:

starter

Ingredient:

Whole Milk

Weight:

286.00

Measurement:

grams

Grams:

286

Ounces:

10.09

Cups:

1.26

Type:

unknown

Ingredient:

Unsalted Butter

Weight:

57.00

Measurement:

grams

Grams:

57

Ounces:

2.01

Cups:

0.25

Type:

butter

Ingredient:

Sugar

Weight:

14.00

Measurement:

grams

Grams:

14

Ounces:

0.49

Cups:

0.07

Type:

sugar

Ingredient:

One Egg

Measurement:

grams

Grams:

0

Ounces:

0.00

Cups:

0.00

Type:

unknown

Ingredient:

Milk 1 tablespoon

Measurement:

grams

Grams:

0

Ounces:

0.00

Cups:

0.00

Type:

unknown

Ingredient:

Sugar 1 teaspoon

Measurement:

grams

Grams:

0

Ounces:

0.00

Cups:

0.00

Type:

sugar

Ingredient:

Chocolate Almond Bark

Weight:

113.00

Measurement:

grams

Grams:

113

Ounces:

3.99

Cups:

0.50

Type:

unknown

Ingredient:

Unsalted Butter

Weight:

200.00

Measurement:

grams

Grams:

200

Ounces:

7.05

Cups:

0.88

Type:

butter

Method:

The preferment is 100% hydration and is made in two builds. This is mixed in with the whole milk that is warm but not hot. The following is added to this to make the dough salt 10 grams, soft butter 57 grams, and sugar 14 grams. This is all mixed together with the 475 grams of AP flour into a well developed dough. Then it is placed in a rectangular container and placed into the fridge.

The 200 grams of unsalted butter is let sit on the counter until it is soften up a bit. What I do with that is form a solid piece of butter that is 5" by 5" by 1/2". I did this by putting the butter between some wax paper and using a rolling pin to form the piece of butter. This is placed into the fridge and I let it harden.

To make Croissants you need to get layers and layers of butter between layers and layers of dough, this is the fun part. Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it out to a rectangle that is 6" by 11" or a little more than twice as big as the 5" by 5" by 1/2" piece of butter. Place the piece of butter on one half of the dough then fold the other half of the dough over the butter. The butter should be completely covered with the dough. Now press the edges of the dough together to seal the dough. Roll the dough/butter out into a thin rectangle and fold it up like a letter and roll it out again and fold it up like a letter. Place the dough back into the container and back into the fridge. I do the rolling out , folding and placing back into the fridge 4 times. The last time I roll it out I cut the edges off to square everything up to make the triangles. Save the trimmings because you can roll up pieces of trimmings inside the Croissants. I try to make the dough in strips about 5 inches wide then cut the dough into triangles. Make the Croissant by rolling the dough up from the wide end and rolling towards the tip. You can grab the tip and stretch the dough out as you roll the dough. You can also place the trimmings or Chocolate Almond Bark inside the Croissant . When the Croissant is rolled up you can curve them into a crescent shape if you like. YouTube is a great place to see how all of the fun parts of Croissant making are done.

Let the dough rise some then make the egg wash to coat the Croissants before you put them into the oven. The egg wash is one egg, 1 tablespoon of milk, and one teaspoon of sugar. Preheat the oven to 400°F and when it is ready coat the dough with the egg wash. I cooked my for 25 minutes and they seem to be nicely brown. With or without chocolate these are a wonderful pastry. Eat them while they are warm.

A small edit to put the flour into the formula. It is time to make croissants again